Tuesday, November 24, 2009 11:58 AM CST
1,512-yard rusher leads SIU
BY BRIAN NIELSEN, Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
CARBONDALE -- In his seven games as Southern Illinois’ better-than-your-average fill-in quarterback, Paul McIntosh has passed for six touchdowns and run for five.
So which does this 2007 Indiana high school Mr. Football and Gatorade Player of the Year like to do best?
“Whatever the defense gives me,” McIntosh said. “I don’t favor one more or the other. Actually I like handing the ball the ball off to Deji.”
Who wouldn’t?
Deji Karim, the second leading rusher in the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision with his 137.5 yards per game, is the headliner among several Salukis who could be a problem for Eastern Illinois in Saturday’s 1 p.m. first-round playoff game at Carbondale.
“Obviously, he’s a game changer,” McIntosh said. “He can be in the end zone anytime he touches the ball.”
So far in 16 games Karim has reached the end zone for 16 touchdowns while getting 7.4 yards per carry to total 1,512 for the 10-1 Salukis.
This comes after Karim, an Oklahoma City product who played two junior college seasons at Northeast Oklahoma A&M, missed all of last year with a knee injury.
He was the third leading rusher in the 2007 season for Southern Illinois though he did not carry the ball in the Salukis’ 30-11 win over Eastern in a first-round playoff game.
If you are trying to put a Walter Payton-like or Emmitt Smith-like tag on this candidate for the Walter Payton Award given to the FCS player of the year, don’t ask Karim.
“Really I don’t like to compare myself to any running back I like to do what I can to provide that spark,” the 5-foot-11, 205-pound Karim said. It helps my game as well as anybody else’s.
“Sometimes we get clicking and anything we do is hard to stop. Whenever we mix it up and get on a roll we are pretty good.”
Statistics show Southern to be a run-first team ranking fourth in the nation in rushing with 224 yards per game and just 63rd among 118 FCS teams in passing at 190.0 yards per game.
This is with McIntosh, a redshirt freshman who transferred from Army, now running the offense after an injury to Chris Dieker, who threw for 10 touchdowns and 1,272 yards in seven games.
“Chris Dieker was our returning starter and was really having one of those impressive seasons,” Southern’s second-year coach Dale Lennon said. “He was doing everything we were asking of him. When he went down naturally we were very concerned. Chris got hurt early in the Youngstown State game. With Paul McIntosh, there was no hesitation, no fear in his eyes. He just said ‘give me the play coach.’ On the first seven drives we scored on five times.”
Lennon said Dieker has a chance to be medically cleared this year but not in time for Saturday’s game against Eastern.
Both Southern, 10-1 and ranked No. 1 in the Sports Network’s FCS poll, and Eastern, 8-3 with a No. 19 ranking, are trying to extend their seasons to a quarterfinal game next week against the winner of the William & Mary-Weber State game.
Preparation for this Illinois intrastate confrontation began shortly after playoff pairings were announced Sunday afternoon.
“From what we’ve seen they run a lot of multiple sets,” McIntosh said of the Panthers. “They like to challenge the receivers. We’ll put together a good game plan. Hopefully, we can expose their weaknesses if they have any weaknesses.”
Contact Brian Nielsen at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
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